


The Haunted Maze

by Peter_Rabbit



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Blood and Gore, Body Horror, Dead People, Halloween, Haunted maze, Horror, Hurt No Comfort, Unsympathetic Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders, dead animal, it/its pronouns, zero comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27361981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peter_Rabbit/pseuds/Peter_Rabbit
Summary: Virgil was sure they had walked right into a horror movie and, since they were all gay, they were all doomed to not get out of this stupid maze alive.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders
Kudos: 12





	The Haunted Maze

**Author's Note:**

> No happy ending, everyone dies, just so you know. But please enjoy! I'm kinda proud of this

The haunted corn maze stood tall and imposing in front of them. It was some silly tourist attraction that was closed for the night, as it was nearing three in the morning of Halloween night.

“Guys, I’m not too sure about this,” Virgil said as they neared the entrance.

Roman was already jumping the little gate that was more just to people it was closed then it was to keep anyone out, “It’ll be fine! Just a fun little trip, in and out!”

“There is nothing to be worried about Virgil, while it is fairly easy to become lost in a corn maze of this size, there are tricks to easily greaten our odds of coming out quickly,” Logan added, simply opening the gate Roman had jumped and holding it open for him.

“No- No, they’re right. It’ll be fine. Let’s go,” Virgil finally agreed and followed Roman in, Logan taking the rear.

It was absolutely not fine. Nothing about this was fine. Something happened. The first riddle had been cheesy and goofy, a goofy thing he couldn’t remember now. The second had been a little harder and so had the third, and so on and so on until the tenth that hadn’t made any sense at all. The space was growing longer between each riddle, sometimes taking full minutes to get to the next sign. The corn had grown so high and thick that it was nearly impossible to see over and even harder to get through. They couldn’t hear the road anymore, something that should have been getting closer to. By the fifthteen riddle it was clear they weren’t in the same fun, tourist attraction, they would get out within the next hour, corn maze they entered. It was debatable whether or not any one of them would get out alive

Logan had separated from them a couple hours ago. Roman and him had argued about the answer to a riddle, that probably didn’t have a real answer to it anyway, and he had stormed back the way they came. They weren’t getting him back. Blood curdling screams had broken through the stalks twenty minutes later, so close to them it was probably not even a few feet away, and yet so far with the corn stalks so thick that even with Roman shoving through them for a full minute he had barely made a dent away from the path. The screams had stopped after a few minutes and Virgil had to physically drag him away. The next riddle had Logan’s glasses, splattered with blood, hanging from the deceivingly cheerful painted sign that spelled their doom in incoherent bubble letters.

At one point, when the sign had just said the word ‘die’ and nothing else, Virgil had them sit down. He refused to move unless whatever had them let them go. It responded by sending some hellhound that had barked and growled so loud it still rang in their ears despite the beast having never gotten close enough for them to see it. Roman had forced Virgil to his feet and pushed him along as it chased them for a mile through the twisting maze before the hound, or whatever, had grown tired of it and let them catch their breath. It had made it’s point clear, they were going to play this game, whether they wanted to or not. 

Then Roman found a sword. No, Roman found _his_ sword. The sword he had been training to use for the fun of it. Some cool trick he could show off to guests and at conventions. It didn’t seem so cool anymore. The blade was sticking out of a large boulder, glittering with specks of pyrite. A gold plated plaque was hammered to the base, reading:

_“This game is fun,_  
_Let’s up the stakes._  
_Leaving your sword_  
_Would be a mistake.”_

“Roman, are you okay?” Virgil asked carefully. 

Roman shook his head as he took a step back, “I- I can’t. I can’t use it for real. I know show moves, flashy things to impress people. Virgil- Virgil I can’t wield it properly enough to take something down.”

“I know, and I’m sure whatever _thing_ brought it here knows that too, but if you don’t take it whatever it is is just gonna send something after us that’s going to make us regret it,” Virgil said, his tone edging on desperate, “It’s a weapon Roman, the best thing we got, and you know the most about it, even if it’s just pretty things to do with it. You could stab a person with it and that’s enough.”

There was a tense moment Virgil was afraid Roman might bolt, all of his friend’s muscles were tight and ready to spring. Something that would result in Roman’s bloody jacket being hung up on the next riddle and leaving him alone to be picked off much easier. Roman instead marched right up to the sword and yanked it out. A scratching sound, worse than nails on a chalkboard, followed it out, and somewhere, deep in the maze, something high and inhuman laughed. Virgil almost made him shove it back in, but before he could utter a word the rock fell apart, like the only thing that had been keeping it together was the sword.

They kept walking. The signs at each fork in the path were no longer riddles, just vague sentences that unnerved them all and didn’t give them a clue as to which way they were supposed to go, though he guessed it didn’t really matter at this point. No matter if they had gotten every riddle right they weren’t making it out of this maze alive. 

The next sign was a bright indigo, crisp black and white letters asked:

_“Would you like to see a familiar face?_  
_Yes or No”_

Like all the other signs the answers pointed down a path in the fork in the maze. The last time they had been asked something similar, whether or not they wanted to pet a dog, they had taken the answer No and was led straight to a dog that had seemingly died several days earlier, rotting into the ground. Roman had thrown up the fast food they had eaten earlier, and it had taken a lot of dry swallowing and holding his nose to stop from puking himself as they hurried away from it. Now they had a similar decision to make. 

“After last time we should probably take the left path,” Roman said, already starting down it.

Virgil wanted to agree but couldn’t, “How do we know it won’t lead us to, like, Logan’s dead body?”

“Virgil!” Roman exclaimed.

“What? It might! Whatever this is, whatever is controlling this place, _killed_ Logan and finds some sick pleasure in making us walk around like idiots, panicking over small decisions and wondering what’s around every bend! We, quite literally, might be here for the rest of our lives, however long those are, and it will find joy in us crying over Logan’s dead body until that gets boring and it sends another hellhound, or a banshee, or whatever shitty thing it has up its sleeve.”

“At least we have an idea or what might be down there. The other path might have an _unfamiliar_ face,” Roman insisted, “And that sounds more frightening than maybe finding Logan. Especially since we don’t know for sure he’s dead.”

“Roman, we both heard-”

“But we didn’t see it,” Roman, cut him off, “He could be alive.”

They walked the path labeled Yes. Virgil was expecting a body, a severed head, maybe even just Logan’s face stitched onto the head of a scarecrow. Instead, after several minutes of walking, Logan just walked right out of the corn, like it had parted for him when nothing else could move the thick stalks. 

Roman called his name in excitement and sprung to tackle their missing friend in a hug, but Virgil grabbed his arm before he could get any closer, staring at Logan with fearful eyes. It looked like Logan, from the crisp hair pushed back, to the small dimples, to the freckles and the sharp features. But posture was wrong, too loose and fluid, he had walked with all the grace of a Disney villain and, while the expression was Logan’s usual calm neutral the more he stared the more it slipped. The most unnerving was the glistening sword held almost casually in his right hand. A minute passed, the creature, that was definitely not Logan, dropped the act completely, a quirky at the corners of his mouth unnaturally and the dark brown of his eyes fading away to a soft yellow. 

“Virgil,” It purred, taking a step closer, “You’re much more clever than I had taken you for, or, perhaps, I’ve just gotten rusty. It’s been years since I’ve been able to play.”

“We’re done with this stupid game,” Virgil hissed, “Let us go home!”

“Done? Well we’ve only just started!” He snapped his fingers and howls and cries and roars sounded from all around them, “And now we’re getting to the fun bit.”

“What if I challenged you to a duel?” Roman asked suddenly, pushing past Virgil and holding up his sword that had gone unused till now, “I win, and you let us go home. I lose and the game continues normally.”

“Hardly seems fair that I don’t get anything out of duel besides what I already have,” The creature frowned, “But, very well, a duel would be some good fun.”

Roman nodded and went into a stance, holding his sword in a way that made it look like he knew what he was doing. Virgil should have stopped him, should have yelled and screamed until he had listened and they just had to push forward together. However he stood and watched, a small sparkle of hope that Roman could do this, free them, was burning bright within him.

It was shattered into a million pieces not a minute later. It was replaced with horror and disgust so thick he thought he may start choking on it the same way Roman was now choking on his own blood, grasping at his neck in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. The creature was standing over him with a smile, tip of its sword covered in blood, still taking the form of their friend.

“Whoops.” It looked up at him, “Maybe I should have given him more of a chance. He was so clumsy with the blade.”

Roman was jerking and his breaths were coming out in gurgles for what could have been a minute or an hour, until he slowed down to a stop, his body growing eerily still with his green eyes staring wide at the sky so dark and overcast above them that the moon was barely a white blur in the endless black. The creatures merely stepped over his friend like he was nothing, the image of Logan melting away to something horrific, a true monster of inky scales and writhing arms, too many eyes and not enough space for them. 

“Well, I was hoping for the fun to last a little longer, but it looks like we have our winner instead,” It chirped, “You, Virgil, get to be one of my newest creations!”

Virgil’s eyes went wide and he backed up a few steps, looking back the way he had come. He wouldn’t be able to make it out, there was no going back, there was only this maze and this maze only for miles and miles, if not on forever. Still, he bolted, his fear of the creature in front of him much more present than the logic of his brain telling him it was useless. 

He didn’t get far before a snap rang in his ears before the pain rang through his body, making him tumble forward. More snaps and cracks spread across his body as screams started to be ripped from his throat. His bones were breaking and reforming, his skin stretching and hair growing rapidly. The worst was his skull, and he begged for something to kill him as his skull broke into a hundred pieces and started growing and fusing back together into a shape that was too long and heavy to be even close to human. 

“Aw Virgil, you look great!” The creature, his master, laughed as the pain finally subsided. Leaving him panting and stumbling onto eight legs. “Now, my sweet creation, go play.”

Virgil let out a soft hiss before scampering off down the maze to find the many others like him.


End file.
